Colorado State football hopes to go fourth

Players want improved number; McElwain looks deeper

After each of the past three seasons, members of the Colorado State football team have said they can't go 3-9 again. Well, with one week remaining on the 2012 slate, the Rams are 3-8 once again.

The team closes out Jim McElwain's first season as head coach Saturday at home against New Mexico, a squad that has already shown marked improvement by winning four games this season. For the CSU players, flipping the number would be a step in a very positive direction.

"I think it would be great," said senior James Skelton, who was sporting a Christmas cast on his broken ankle and won't play. "The past couple of years, that three wins, I don't know what it is about it, but we can't get over it. I think that would be huge. Not to sound corny or whatever, the Bold New Era I think will start and we finally get over that three-win hump, and I think it's a huge deal for these guys."

Maybe even for the fans, who can point to one more win as being a sign of improvement.

For McElwain himself, another win would be nice, but it's still not going to make him happy with the overall total, and he said to put the blame on him. Behind the scenes, he has seen improvement in the culture of the program, and it's a start.

"Not in the win-loss column by any stretch of the imagination, so let me get that out there right now," McElwain said at his Monday news conference. "But I've seen some huge strides in what is happening. Oh man, unbelievable from the first day I walked in this building on Dec. 15. The way the guys think about themselves, the way they interact with each other and the people around them, the community, in the classroom, it is leaps and bounds.

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"When I got here, we had guys that left and didn't take their finals. I'm like what? You talk about a commitment. Where's that at? I was just shaking my head. That tells you where the heck we were at. How do you do that? I think I'll go home. Are you kidding me? Where was the self image of what you're all about. If that doesn't tell you you're in the Nintendo society of if you're not going good, I'll just turn it off and start over. Wow."

McElwain said he knows this to be true because he was trying to set up meetings with players, only to find out they were already home. Then he'd look at their schedule and see tests still to be taken.

" I'm not putting that on anybody, I'm just talking about how they thought about themselves," McElwain said.

And what about those players now?

"I just remember how they thought about themselves," he said with a smile, as certain players who were with the program when he arrived are no longer on campus. He has weeded the garden, and he's still doing so. When spring drills start, the roster will look different still, he assured.

Still, the players want the final tally to look better than it has, especially the seniors who will not get another chance to say they won more than three games in a season. Wide receiver Marquise Law wants it for his class, as well as the players who will still be around to do what he thinks will be even bigger and better things.

"Very important, because you always want to do better than you did before," Law said. "When you've been 3-9 for three years straight, you just want to break it so you can give these guys hope next year so they can continue to excel and progress."

McElwain understands the sentiment, but he hopes there is more meaning behind it to his players than that. If not, it's back to the garden.

"I would say this: If that's the only motivation, something's wrong," McElwain said. "The motivation is how hard I play and what I'm committed to do for the people in this room, for the people on this team, for this community. I'm looking for that, and as we move forward, those will be the core guys on this football team."

Sidelines -- The Rams are practicing earlier this week with school being out. He said it also gives the players more time in the academic center with finals approaching. And, yes, all the Rams will be taking them this year. ... Of the 15 seniors on the roster, McElwain said 13 will graduate in December, the other two in the spring. Cornerback Immanuel Mitchell will graduate early and take part in Senior Day on Saturday. Mike Kawulok, a student-assistant coach, could also do the same, as this would have been his senior year if not medically sidelined. ... McElwain said publicly for the first time quarterback Garrett Grayson did sustain a setback in the Wyoming game with his left shoulder injury. Listed as questionable for this week are safeties Austin Gray and Conner Roggy and Thomas Coffman. Tackle Jared Biard had surgery this week for his leg injury.

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